Chain cable



April 7, 1942- s. H. GORDON 2,278,874

CHAIN CABLE 18, 1941 2 Sheets-Shet 1 16' 12 Filed June A TTOENEYS s. H. GORDON CHAIN CABLE April 7, 1942 Filed Jun 18, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //v VENTYOE I 51 $012,1 0!

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 7, 1942 CHAIN CABLE Samuel Hunter Gordon, Inverness,

Scotland Application June 18, 1941, Serial No. 398,677

10 Claims.

This invention relates to heavy chain cables of the kind in which the links have transverse studs which act as struts between thetwo sides of the link to keep them from collapsing inwards when the links are in tension.

The invention is concerned with methods of making the links of such chain cables by uniting together two part-links and the stud in a single of automatic electric resistance welding, two part-links meeting together in a plane extending lengthwise of the stud, that is to say, transversely to the length of the link.

In performing such methods it is important that the stud should be placed accurately in position between the ends of the part-links and that there should be no danger of its falling out and of its being knocked sideways out of that position. It is equally important that any provision made for locating the stud in relation to the aforesaid part-link shall not have an adverse effect on the welding operation. The present invention aims at satisfying these requirements.

When the weld line is at or close to the centre line of the stud, the advantage is secured that the heat of the weld secures the stud firmly in place, but difiiculties arise which require special provision to overcome them. These difficulties are avoided according to this invention by displacing the weld line lengthwise of the-link, so that it is clear, or nearly clear, of the stud, and by locating and locking the stud, at least in one direction, by shaping appropriately the ends of the stud and the parts of the link against which they fit.

According to .a further feature of this inven-; tion the sides of the link against which the ends of the stud fitar'e made of substantially uniform cross-section, that is to say they have no upset portions or bulges which are sometimes provided to form flat seating surfaces for the ends .of the stud, and the ends of the stud are shaped to cor respond, that is to say, they are concave in the transverse direction.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the three parts of a link according to this invention in the relative positions they occupy prior to the welding operation;

Figure 2 is a cross-section on the line 11-11 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the stud; Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to Figure 1 showing modifications;

Figure 6 illustrates a device for use in connec- Great Brit ain July 23, 1940 part-link H] are shown in Figure tion with the modification shown in Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a further modification; and

Figure 8 is a cross-section on VIII in Figure '7.

Referring to Figure 1, the two part-links I0, [2 have their meeting ends provided withextra metal l4, it which is burned away during the welding. The part H! of the link is made longer than the part 12 so that the meeting faces of the two parts are just clear of the stud. The crosssection of the part-links is circular throughout and the end faces l8 ofthe stud 20 are shaped to fit the inner sides of the part-link 10, these faces being convex in the longitudinal direction the line VIII-- of the link and concave in the transverse direction, In other words, they are of toric form, as shown in Figure 3.

The half-link H] is clamped in the fixed head of the welding machine and the stud is placed between its jaws. In order to place the studin the correct position it must be forced in the. endwise direction between the free ends of thepartlink which yield elastically .to receive it. .The stud will then be held in place by the resilience of the part-link. After welding, the force required to separate the sides of the link sufficiently to loosen the stud is many times greaterthan that required before welding. and therefore the stud will be securely held although it does not become welded to the link.

In the case of very large links the force .required to spring the stud into place may be excessive. In such cases the extremities of the slightly altered in shape as 4, so that the portions 22 between the transverse centre line and the end faces are cylindrical on their inwardly facing sides, theend faces of the stud being shaped to correspond. The stud is wedged into place, without its being necessary to spring the jaws of the part-link apart, butin this case there is nothing to prevent the stud from moving to the right after the link iswelded. .To avoid this, small projections 24 are provided on the partlink I2 which during the welding operation encounter the corners of the stud at 26 and become united thereto. A part of ,the projection 24 remains, but this does not interfere with the next link of the chain which is engaged with the loop of the part-link l2.

In Figure 5 a further modification is shown in which the whole of the parts of the surface of the part-link H] which are engaged by the end faces of the stud are made cylindrical but taper so that the stud is held in position by a wedging the longer part-link by pressure in the endwise action as in the construction of Figure 4. The direction of the link. end faces of the stud may conveniently be cut 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the stud are roughly shaped and a finishing cut part-link is united by Welding to the corners of isi made in a press by the two guided punches, the stud. thereby imparting to the end faces the required 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein between them. provide flat seating surfaces, the end faces of In this case also the part-link I2 is formed the stud being flat to correspond, each seating with projections 24, the purpose of which has alsurface and each end face being formed one ready been described. with a groove and the other with a projection Referring now to Figure 7, the part-link H3 or key so shaped as to locate the stud securely 5. shallow transverse grooves 28 which, as shown of the kind hereinbefore referred to consisting in Figure 8 do not extend right across the surin forming two part-l1nks abutting along a line faces 21 and these grooves receive DI'OJGCHDDS perpendicular to the maJor axis of the link the or keys formed on the flat ends of the stud. cross-section of the pa1t-l1nks being substan- These keys likewise do not extend completely tially uniform throughout without upset portions across the end faces of the stud. 25 or bulges for the stud, forming a stud with con- The part-link I0 is clamped in the fixed weldcave end faces fitting the inner sides of the to fall through because the groove 20 does not 0 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein ways in the direction opposite to that by which 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein it was inserted. Hence, the additional metal I 4 the end faces of the stud are of toric shape so shown in Figure 1 and in addition, small proelastically to receive it. Jections 32, similar to the projections 24 (Fig- (0 8. The method according to claim 1 wherein ures 4 and 5), are formed on the inner corners h inner S d of the i D k between stud are heated to welding temperature. Thus, 4;, sponding parts of the end faces of the stud are rn r and thereby h ld in place of the shorter part-link are provided with pro- The grooves 29 and projections 30 may extend jGCtiOHS which EIICOllIltGI the corners of the Stud, lengthwise of the link instead of transversely h y p eventing endwise displacement of the In this case also displacement of the stud length- Stud after the two pa Of the link have been by the welding as described above between the The method according to Claim wherein part-link l2 and th stud 20, the inner sides of the longer part-link are cylin- I laim; drical over the whole extent which is engaged 1. The method of making links of chain cables by h end faces of the u and are ape ed in of th t shaping t ends of the Stud and provided on the shorter part-link which encounthe parts of the longer t k agamst which ter the corners of the stud, thereby preventing they fit so that the Stud 15 located and locked endwlse displacement of the stud after the two in relation thereto at least in one direction asparts of the link v en W lded together sembling the stud mm the said art-link and 10 h m h rdin o claim 1 wherein uniting the two part-links by automatic electric 05 he end f es of he stud ar sh p d y m n resistance welding. of two cylindrical shear punches, one for each 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein end face, constrained to move in slightly dithe ends of the stud are shaped so that the stud vergent paths by means of guides. can be sprung into place between the jaws of SAMUEL HUNTER GORDON. 

